The Chassidic Approach To Joy

when thinking about a problem a person is prompted to do something about it, then it is merirus; it is the kind of feeling bad that is valuable. True, the person feels regret and remorse, but his feelings are channeled in the direction of change. He keeps asking himself: “What can I do to correct the situation?” and “How can I see that it does not

Bittul means not seeing oneself as a separate, independent entity, and G-d as another separate, independent entity, but rather recognizing that all existence — including one’s own self — is a manifestation and an expression of G-dliness.

Joy is important, not only as the antithesis of depression, but as a fundamental element of our Divine service in its own right.

In other words, the situation itself may be painful or unpleasant, but it will lead to a positive outcome. If we were to know the positive results from the outset, we would decide that it is worth enduring this negative experience for the sake of the positive experience. Rabbi Akiva taught that even when a person does not have such foreknowledge, h

“That toy can only frighten people who have one world and many gods. A person who has one G-d and two worlds is not afraid of your little toy.”

“In the place that a baal teshuvah (a person who repents and returns to G-d) stands, a perfect tzaddik (righteous man) is incapable of standing.”

Why can’t we, like Nachum Ish Gamzu, be happy in all situations? To put it bluntly, we are ignorant and unaware. We have not developed ourselves, and moreover, even the most developed person cannot have the same understanding as G-d.

there is no way that G-d will allow something to happen that is not for the good.

The soul and the body function as a single entity. Although they have different sources, as long as a person is alive, his body and his soul share a single identity,